I got turned away at a restaurant!

The other day I was driving around picking up meals and delivering them to hungry people (I’m such a saint, aren’t I?) and I actually went to a restaurant that, surprisingly, turned me away. This humble, selfess man arrives to pick up food just to bring it to those in need and he gets sent away? What gives!

OK, OK, before you touch my shoulders with a sword and start calling me sir………… I was working for Uber Eats. The meal was for someone who’s willing to pay for their food, plus a convenience fee, plus a delivery fee, plus a tip, plus etc etc etc so it’s not like I was serving the poor or anything.

So I arrive at this busy restaurant and make my way to the back and the chef /cook guy says I’ll need to cancel the order. He explained quickly that he was way too busy to complete the order. I’m not slamming the chef at all, in fact I have compassion for him. Have you ever been working so hard that all you could do to keep your head above water was tell people to go away? That’s the position this guy was in. So I left, had the order cancelled, and the customer had to figure out something different for dinner. This tells me two things:

1. That restaurant is popular (it kept popping up on my Uber app but I declined it for the rest of the night).

2. It’s almost the exact opposite of my experience in a couple of well-known fast food restaurants.

So many times I’ll arrive at one of these fast food restaurants where there’s no one else in the place, except the employees where the one up front makes direct eye with me, then without saying a word, walks away. What in tarnation!? Customer service doesn’t actually take much effort, at least for the bare minimum. A simple, “Have you been helped yet?” goes a loooooooong way. Another time I walked through the entire staff who were sitting on the outside steps talking and smoking and talking. I waiting by the registers and one of them came in to take my order a few minutes later. Yet again, once with family at a fast food joint, we were told we were going to have to wait to order because they were busy. Nobody was in the dining area and no one was in the drive-through. We were shocked into laughter. After responding by telling this person we’ll just go somewhere else, she said, “OK we’re ready, what do you want to order?”

Things that make you go hmmmm!

-Out of the Wilderness

Can American Idol save Disney?

If you’re even a little bit aware of the current culture surrounding Disney (and Florida, too, I suppose), you know they’ve sort of plopped themselves in hot water with conservatives. It was especially noticeable when they announced they’d pay for any employee who wants an abortion to travel to a state where it’s legal. Talk about entering a conversation uninvited!

It’s safe to say Disney was the Budweiser of 2022 (also… sayonara, Bud Light!). While Disney hasn’t been cancelled completely, a lot of people have cancelled their streaming services, which is kind of a big deal.

Enter American Idol. Tonight’s episode will feature Disney songs. It’s not a huge surprise since ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company. I’ve also read we’ll hear from stars singing from the Disney catalog along with a performance promoting the new Little Mermaid movie.

This isn’t Idol’s first connection to Disney and/or Disney parks. Once the final two dozen singers were solidified, they performed from the Aulani Disney resort in Hawaii. There were some great performances from the tropical setting (see: Idol in Hawaii: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly). OK, I’m just going to say it so it’s out there…

If any contestant can save Disney, it’s Iam Tongi.

It seems as though American Idol is his to lose, as the saying goes. He always gets a standing ovation and big cheers and chants from the live audience. His Instagram and Twitter posts get thousands and thousands of views and likes. Youtube videos of his performances are in the hundreds of thousands while the other singers are in the tens of thousands. If voting mirrors any of that, he can’t lose. Of course, Idol is known for not following their own rules so who knows what might happen in these last few episodes…

Unfortunately, two great singers will go home in tonight’s episode from the five remaining: Iam Tongi, Zachariah Smith, Colin Stough, Wé Ani, and Megan Danielle. It’s impossible to predict the bottom two from this extremely talented group but I’ll say the ones going home tonight are… Zachariah and Wé Ani. Gosh, it hurts to even type that but Iam and Megan are so unique with recognizable voices. Colin has been a dark horse and keeps getting better each week. Zachariah hasn’t picked the best songs lately and last week having to sing an Alanis Morissette song did him no favors. Wé Ani is just a guess. Her voice is so powerful but can she get more votes than two country singers and Iam? I don’t think so.

-Out of the Wilderness

Mother’s Day Commercials and Music

We’d be nothing without our mothers. They love, nurture, teach, comfort, discipline, guard. On this Mother’s Day, here’s a celebration of moms as seen in sweet and/or funny TV commercials. Click on the title for more info on each ad. Happy Mother’s Day, Mom!

Publix Red Velvet Mother’s Surprise. A husband sweetly prepares a meal for his wife with the help of his mother-in-law. Side note, if you want the recipe click here.

1-800-FLOWERS Has Jokes on Mother’s Day. Nothing like a “yo mama” joke to celebrate all the moms out here. Clever!

Mom or Mama in Song Titles. Often sung about, the love of a mother!

A Special Cake for Mom. This one was for Valentine’s Day but it deserves a spot in today’s post because it might be Publix’s best ever commercial.

One-Eyed Deer. This isn’t a commercial but I can’t NOT include this Louisiana doe. She and her fawns were crossing a narrow road in a park where I had been camping. I was on my bike, stopping to snap a few pictures of the little family. The fawns continued on but their mom turned back towards me, a guardian between me and them. It was a just a random moment on a random day when I got the final picture but her stern gaze will always be with me.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the loving moms out there who work hard as protector, guardian, parent… especially mine.

-Out of the Wilderness

Kimberly Perry Celebrates New Life in Music and More!

When I worked at CMT there was a new trio that came into country music with a few strong showings in the form of hit songs. The biggest was “If I Die Young.” You can read all about the bizarre-to-outsiders journey of The Band Perry going from country to pop to EDM and now, in 2023, they’re on a hiatus as a band. You know what that means… the lead singer is going solo! Kimberly Perry has returned to what made the group popular, country music. Is it a stroke of genius that her first single as a solo artist is simply called, “If I Die Young Pt. 2”? Well, as the old saying goes… if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Here’s part 1 and part 2 of “If I Die Young,” recorded 13 years apart.

Fans commenting online are excited about her return to country music. It’s also a sweet moment to have this new sequel song as she’s expecting a baby of her own with husband Johnny Costello. New life in more ways than one! I might actually like part 2 more than part 1. To use a sports analogy, I’ve often wondered why football teams don’t run the same exact play twice or three times in a row. If it works, do it again! The defense is always changing their setup because they’re expecting the offense to have a different play for every down. Surprise them with the same play back-to-back. This is sort of what Kimberly’s done by piggy-backing on the success of “If I Die Young,” and I think it’s a clever (and hopefully successful) decision.

What do you think of the new song? Chime in below!

-Out of the Wilderness

Is there anyone cooler than Dolly Parton?

Is there anyone cooler than Dolly Parton? She’s without a doubt one of a kind in country music and now in rock music. She performed a new song at the recent ACM Awards Show and the 3 fans who weren’t staring at their phones (grrrrrr!!!) seemed to have enjoyed every second of it. Take a look at the icon doing her new song…

Some would say part of what’s making the “world on fire” is our obsession with smartphones. It’s not just the kids, either. I’m 44-years-old and feel the tether of my phone every day. It takes a lot of focus and discipline to leave the phone behind when I go anywhere! In an interesting connection to the awards show hosted by Dolly and Garth Brooks, I recently heard that the Garth Brooks show in Vegas is going to be strictly phone-free, requiring ticket holders to leave their phone at the door before they go into the venue. I actually love that idea. This isn’t the only connection to Garth. A song of his came to mind as I was listening to Dolly’s for the first time. “Standing Outside the Fire” (from 1993) is a call to action in the same way Dolly’s is.

Fire starters. Politics, as Dolly mentions. Denying God, also written in the lyrics. It’s a great song especially when it gets to the bright, hopeful lyrics towards the end.

As I listened to the song, I kept coming back to a song by Michael Jackson called “Earth Song.” The song is pretty epic but along with the video it’s taken on another level. It was released in 1995.

Dolly is a beloved part of American music history and I hope I can be like her one day. Are there other songs that reach this level of introspection? Perhaps “If I Can Dream” by Elvis? Chime in below with more titles and I’ll see you tomorrow!

-Out of the Wilderness